Best playing cards

Start with Bicycle Gold Standard — the classic Rider Back faces on Bee stock, so it shuffles and holds up like the deck everyone grew up with, with a slightly nicer feel than a drugstore pack. Best all-rounder for family games and casual poker.

• KEM Arrow — plastic, bridge-size, two decks: the pick for serious poker nights, since plastic shrugs off spills and bent corners.
• Hoyle Waterproof Clear — for the kitchen table, the beach or a cabin; fully waterproof and cheap enough to keep a spare.
• Otron 24-deck pack — for a club, classroom or tournament where you need lots of decks at once.
• Harry Potter / Star Wars / Rifle Paper decks — gift and display picks when the theme matters more than the shuffle.
• Pants or Stüssy decks — design-led novelty decks for collectors.

Skip anything with no listed price or stock — a deck you can't buy isn't a deck.